ICICI slams Rs 5 lakh bond to leash in staff

ICICI Bank has prepared a one-year bond worth Rs 5 lakh to be signed by the employees being trained and transferred to the branch banking division from other business units hit by the slowdown, report Ruchi Hajela & Sandeep Singh.

indiaUpdated: Feb 12, 2009 11:08 IST

Ruchi Hajela & Sandeep Singh Hindustan Times

ICICI Bank, in what some employees see as unwarranted pressure, has prepared a one-year bond worth Rs 5 lakh to be signed by the employees being trained and transferred to the branch banking division from other business units hit by the slowdown.

The bond, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, says, "I hereby undertake and agree to reimburse the bank the entire amount of Rs 5,00,000 immediately on demand and without demur on such discontinuation before completion of one year...... I will also be liable and I agree to pay interest @24 per cent per annum."

One affected employee in Delhi who was transferred to a remote centre, told Hindustan Times, “I was never told about the bond before the training began. When I declined to accept, I was asked to put in my papers with immediate effect without allowing to serve the notice period of 45 days.” The employee asked not to be identified. The bank denied the charge.

“We want stability at those branches and thus comes a one year bond about which they have been informed before they were taken for training,” said a senior ICICI official. “There also seems to be some miscommunication on the notice period issue and they will be given adequate notice period.”

The bank has been training its existing employees to take up a role at one of the 580 new branches for which the bank has received RBI’s approval.

The employees, given the difficult market conditions, are left with no option than to accept the bank’s proposal.

"I had to sign the bond as I have loans to pay and other compulsions. There are no jobs in the market and ICICI is holding our necks," said an employee.

The employees HT spoke to said that they have been transferred to locations like Kishangarh and Suratgarh. However the ICICI Bank offcial said that they are trying to relocate employees closest to their regions.

Over the past one year ICICI Bank has trained almost 1,000 employees and has till now deployed employees in two-three branches. Over the next two-three months the bank hopes to fill the employee requirement of the upcoming 580 branches.